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Thursday, 23 August 2012

Healthy Me...

I few weeks ago I wrote a post about my struggles with chronic heartburn and the terrible impact it has on my life. I really hate calling it heartburn as that implies it's a bit of a niggle after having a spicy meal whereas in fact, this is a terrible debilitating condition that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy (and believe me I hold a grudge). Recently I discovered that there is a word for this that makes it sound a bit more like I want it to - gastro-intestinal disease. It's really hard to describe to someone who has never had it, but the feeling is something like nausea and hunger and a terrible burning sensation all the way from my stomach to my throat. I find that if I have a stressful few days for whatever reason, it brings it back with a vengeance and although it does eventually settle down, for a week or so, I feel and look like death. One of the more pleasant side effects of gastro-intestinal disease is that when I have an episide, I cannot eat anything as I have been conditioned to associate food with pain. I usually end up losing about 2lbs per day during these periods, which is great in a way, but not really a healthy sign.

I know I need to go back to the doctor to sort this out, but aside from writing this blog which I sometimes think makes me out to be a bit of an attention seeker, I really hate attention! I know the doctor will refer me for an endoscopy which I really really don't want to have. Therefore I've been resorting to the tactic of old, searching the internet for answers and ideas for how I can treat it myself. One of the first things that came up on a search was some of the alternative remedies there are rather than taking Rinitidine which no longer works for me now. I had a look at the Holland and Barrett website which has a load of herbs etc that I was willing to try. I asked my husband to get me some stuff on his way home from work yesterday and he managed to pick me up some peppermint capsules and some aloe vera juice. I haven't tried the aloe vera yet but I took the peppermint before bed and I can honestly say it was the best I have slept in ages (I seem to suffer more at night). I am going to try the aloe vera today and am really really hoping it has an impact as I'm pretty desperate.

When I was still feeding my son I also tried Holland and Barrett's fenugreek capsules as a way to increase my milk supply. I found it worked really well and my son can attest to that as I fed him myself until he was nearly one.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how things go, I know I need to book a doctors appointment, I'm just scared of what they will say.

This content is the absolute truth but the link to Holland and Barrett is sponsored.

15 comments:

Hi pret-a-mummy!Just caught up with your blog since returning from hols. You sound worried and sad. Please get in touch if you feel like meeting up for coffee/lunch - I don't think I have your non-work contact details!Gill

Bum, that sounds really miserable. I was going to suggest ranitidine (which I had to take for morning sickness and also sorted my heartburn out as well), but I see you've already tried it and it didn't work. I hope that you find something that does work soon, but I think that the doc is probably the best person to see. Rosie, x

Really hope you get some answers and soon. Do have some allergy tests too and I remember when I was on the pill it affected me with tummy and indigestion so perhaps think about that if you are on it. Took 3 months to get out of my system and then I felt fine again x

Hi - I empathise. One of my son's had a similar condition for the first 18 months of his life, an infant version, which meant he couldn't drink milk and was in chronic pain when he did drink. Fortunately for him and for us, he grew out of the infant related version. It was horrible to watch him suffer, so I can appreciate how vile this is for you. I do hope things improve. Just a note to say that I am enjoying your blogs. Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to receive the Versatile Blogger Award from a fellow blogger. It's my turn to pass this on and I have awarded this to you on my site. If you are interested in what this means (and I had never heard of it) visit www.thenews-on.blogspot.com. Anna x

Ooh, I don't know if this helps in your research, but when my son was a baby the doctors thought it was acid refulx (wasn't) and prescribed baby gaviscon ritadin etc. None of it worked! After hours of research I found a powder which thickened up my son's milk. It took hours to drink but did the trick. I'm not suggesting you drink milk, but will try to recall what it is called. Maybe it could help in some way (not sure what the ingredients are). Do you get the pain with all food? Do you get it with drinks? I'm just wondering if you could add the powder to drinks etc? It took so long for me to find out what this was, but when I did, the doctor's prescribed it and we never looked back. A long shot? But sounds like you are desperate for some respite xx

I've been drinking a probiotic drink the last few days which seems to have helped, prob similar ingredients but thanks for the tip! I'm trying to figure out which foods trigger it off. The one certainty is tomatoes or anything with a tomato sauce like bolognese. Thanks for the blogger award!